Santa's New Jet

Santa's reindeer won't be able to fly on Christmas Eve. They're too out of shape. Fortunately the elves build Santa a fancy jet in time to deliver all the gifts. But the new jet crash-lands on rooftops and doesn't have a light as bright as Rudolph's nose. What's more, Blitzen's not on board to help choose which toys to give each child. Santa is in need of some serious…
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Overview

Santa's reindeer won't be able to fly on Christmas Eve. They're too out of shape. Fortunately the elves build Santa a fancy jet in time to deliver all the gifts. But the new jet crash-lands on rooftops and doesn't have a light as bright as Rudolph's nose. What's more, Blitzen's not on board to help choose which toys to give each child. Santa is in need of some serious help this Christmas!

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Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1—In this new edition of a book published by Scholastic Book Fairs in 2007, Santa tells readers of his discovery that his reindeer are too out of shape to fly the sleigh. So his elves build a cool jet for him, but when it turns out to have its drawbacks, Santa's newly fit reindeer come to the rescue on Christmas Eve. The slick Photoshop illustrations and no-frills text may please young readers who find the fat reindeer and shiny jet appealing, but there's nothing original here.—Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

Children's Literature - Nancy Garhan Attebury

As Christmas nears, Santa prepares for the event only to find his reindeer are out of shape and that his old sleigh is not in its best condition. He makes a valiant attempt to practice while his overweight reindeer carry his giant bag of goodies with his duct-taped sleigh. However, the attempt fails miserably and soon Santa is ready to try Orville the elf's idea of creating a super sleigh jet to deliver his toys. The idea seems good but as things materialize they do not work out as Santa planned. In the end he returns to the North Pole and finds a very different picture than when he left. This is a fresh way to present an old story and the ending is very satisfying. Vivid colors for fun-filled illustrations and a perfect amount of text blend well to make this book a top pick as a Christmas read. Humor is continuous and works to keep readers turning the pages. It will take more than one read to discover all of the fun hiding in the illustrations. Reviewer: Nancy Garhan Attebury

Kirkus Reviews

When the reindeer get too out of shape to pull Santa's sleigh, an elf named Orville designs a custom jet for Santa's Christmas Eve deliveries, thoughSanta finds his traditional transportation mode suits him best.

Computer-generated illustrations and slapstick humor set the tone for this amusing, first-person account told from Santa's point of view. The elves produce a new, bright-red jet for Santa in record time, and he zips around the North Pole on practice runs. But during his Christmas Eve deliveries, Santa finds the jet noisy and hard to land. He misses the reindeer, and when fog sets in, he sends up an emergency flare for reindeer road assistance. The reindeer have been secretly working out and fixing up the old sleigh, so they fly to Santa's aid to complete the holiday deliveries in the old-fashioned way. The visual gag ending shown in thought bubbles from the reindeer reveals Santa's jet in a display at the History of Flight Museum, rather than the reindeer team shown in a previous illustration. These newly buff reindeer are far from obsolescence.

The story line is a little forced and the ending is predictable, but kids who like shiny airplanes or alternate means of transportation will like seeing Santa in a jet instead of a sleigh.(Picture book. 3-6)